In a mobile terminal apparatus such as a mobile phone and PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), the display is increasingly becoming smaller in recent years due to miniaturization, leading to a limited display area. Also in a terminal apparatus other than a mobile terminal apparatus such as a PC (Personal Computer), for displaying as much information as possible by, for example, arranging a plurality of windows on the display, each window may become smaller, leading to a limited display area for each window. When a screen is displayed in such a display area, display sizes of characters and images in the screen become smaller if the whole screen is made a display area so that the screen may be viewed more easily. If the display size becomes smaller, it becomes more difficult to select and operate a button, icon, hyper-link and the like arranged in the screen. Particularly when a touch panel is used as the display and a user performs a selection operation on the touch panel using a finger, it is difficult to finely specify the position.
Further, a mobile phone generally has a Web browser to view Web sites created for PCs mounted therein. In the Web browser, for example, a screen of a Web site created by assuming a mouse operation on a PC is displayed in a display area of the mobile phone. Thus, when a screen created with a layout by assuming a different display area is displayed, hyperlinks and the like in the screen are frequently positioned or have a display size inappropriate for selection operation.
In response to such a problem, an apparatus that enables the user to change the display scaling factor of the screen so that the user may perform a selection operation after the screen is displayed by being scaled up is proposed (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-242981). In a flat coordinate input apparatus according to Patent Document 1, a tap operation and input coordinates thereof are detected through a flat coordinate input means. Then, the vicinity of the display position corresponding to the input coordinates is displayed by being scaled up in response to an odd tap operation and displayed by being scaled down to return to the original display scaling factor in response to an even tap operation.
However, the above apparatus is caused to change the display mode simply by the display scaling factor being successively specified through a tap operation. In contrast, for example, when a Web site is viewed via the Web browser of a mobile phone, screen transitions frequently occur because the user follows hyperlinks and the like. If the display scaling factor appropriate for selection operation and that appropriate for viewing are successively specified, there is a problem that operations become complicated and user convenience is reduced. This problem may also arise in devices other than the mobile phone.